Learning about digital marketing for small businesses

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A couple of posts back, I discussed what a learning curve it was to optimise the website for SEO – see HERE for that post. And yes, using internal linking is a key component of optimising for SEO!

Learning the basics of digital marketing

Well, I’ve been undergoing a similar learning curve about digital marketing! During previous roles as a content designer, I’ve worked closely with digital marketing teams. And along the way, I’ve picked up various bits of knowledge from lots of lovely people with considerable experience. But it’s still amazing how much you don’t know, or how many things you only half-know.

Luckily I managed to find a course that was perfect for what I needed. It’s run by Google, and can easily and swiftly be completed online – https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage/course/digital-marketing 

I’ll admit I liked several things about this course.

  • As an introductory course in the fundamentals of digital marketing, it’s perfect. 26 bitesize modules delivered through video tutorials. Each tutorial is maybe 5 minutes long at the most.
  • Covers all the basic principles (some of which I already knew, thankfully). And this is invaluable. I’m happy to re-learn basics and building blocks.
  • But also covers a lot of details within those basics. Lots of opportunities to explore other websites, search for data, see how other businesses conform to these basic principles.
  • The sequence of the modules makes perfect sense. You learn as if you’re starting from scratch.
  • The course repeatedly stresses how absolutely vital digital marketing is nowadays. This seems like stating the completely obvious. But it’s true! It’s not just the big guys – small businesses literally can’t afford not to have an online presence.

My key discoveries from the digital marketing course

I’m not going to regurgitate the content here. That would be pointless. But I will share a few of my key takeaways.

  • Know your goals. Plan, plan, plan. Research. Forewarned is forearmed, as the cliche goes.
  • It’s all about the customer. The customer profile. What do they want? What are they looking for? What’s their online behaviour? Their demographic?
  • How do businesses appeal directly to those customers? How to engage them? It’s so competitive out there, the loudest shouts usually get heard. But good news! Targeting the right person at the right time is perfectly possible. And importantly, it’s usually productive.
  • Getting noticed locally. Absolutely key. And perfectly achievable through all sorts of channels. A tiny example – look at the URL of this post. Including the name of my local town should in time improve my visibility on local Google searches. See HERE for more information about Towcester.

That’s it for now. There was so much to takeaway I daresay I’ll be posting about it again. But for now, lots of actions to take – exciting!